The Oberaletsch Glacier (German: ''Oberaletschgletscher'', meaning ''Upper Aletsch Glacier'') is a valley

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

on the south side of the

Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...

, in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. It had a length of with an average width of just under and an area of about in 1973. The Oberaletsch Glacier system consists of two approximately equal arms. The eastern one takes its starting point on the south western flank of the

Aletschhorn The Aletschhorn () is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland, lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot. T ...

at around , and joins the western arm (Beichgletscher) in the valley at the foot of the

Nesthorn The Nesthorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps. It is located in the Swiss canton of Valais north of Brig. The mountain lies between the Oberaletsch Glacier on the north and east side and the Gredetschtal on the south side. It is part of the subr ...

. Then the glacier flows to the south-east towards the

Aletsch Glacier The Aletsch Glacier (, ) or Great Aletsch Glacier () is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about (2014), a volume of (2011), and covers about (2011) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Valais. The A ...

without reaching it. The glacier tongue ends at around . During the

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...

in the middle of the 19th century the glacier was part of the Aletsch Glacier. The

Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...

Oberaletschhütte () is above the junction of the two glacier arms and has been accessible to hikers since 2005 with a new trail from

Belalp Belalp is a village and ski resort in the Swiss canton of Valais, situated at approximately above sea level in the municipality of Naters. Because of its altitude, Belalp is a vantage point offering views of the Dom and Fletschhorn mountains an ...

. The area of the Oberaletsch Glacier, along with the Aletsch Glacier, was declared a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in December 2001.

External links

Oberaletsch glacier on Glaciers online
Glaciers of Valais Glaciers of the Alps {{Valais-glacier-stub

See also

External links